Thursday's Dialogue Session Canceled as Military Promotions Talks Collapse

A national dialogue session scheduled for Thursday has been called off and the next session will be held on October 26, state-run National News Agency reported after Wednesday's session ended at the parliament.

“I submitted my paper on the characteristics of the next president in a bid to reconcile viewpoints. We won't be able to elect a president without a 'full package',” said Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat after leaving the dialogue session.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon said the Free Patriotic Movement “rejected discussing the (military) promotions settlement around the dialogue table.”

LBCI television said FPM's representative MP Ibrahim Kanaan left the session “when the issue of the promotions settlement was raised.”

“The settlement proposal has collapsed and (al-Mustaqbal bloc chief MP Fouad) Saniora and (Kataeb Party chief MP Sami) Gemayel are to blame,” LBCI quoted FPM sources as saying.

Quoting ministerial sources, the TV network said “the cabinet will not convene anytime soon and the government's situation is very difficult.”

Wednesday's talks tackled the presidential crisis although Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun did not attend the dialogue session.

On Tuesday, Aoun attended the morning session but skipped the evening one over what were described as “health reasons.”

His presence is necessary because Speaker Nabih Berri, who is chairing the sessions, has warned that the all-party talks would collapse if officials boycotted them.

Aoun was represented by Change and Reform MP Ibrahim Kanaan in Wednesday's dialogue whose morning and evening sessions focused on the characteristics of the next president although officials have expressed pessimism on their ability to reach an agreement on the presidential crisis.

The country's top Christian post has been vacant since President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May last year.

The Baabda Palace vacuum has paralyzed the parliament and sparked differences among the rival parties represented in Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government.

Among the controversial issues are the cabinet's decision-making mechanism and the promotion of military officers.

The rival leaders held on Tuesday backstage talks on the promotions were expected to do the same on Wednesday.

Aoun wants to resolve the issue before his son-in-law Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz retires on October 15.

The Change and Reform leader is hoping that Roukoz' promotion would keep him in the military and make him eligible to lead the institution.

G.K./Y.R.